Foreigners affiliated with Social Security increased by 17.7% in the last month, compared to 0.9% for Spaniards. The impact is concentrated in regions and cities with high immigrant populations.
According to eldebate.com, membership in Social Security gained 145,605 affiliates in Catalonia in September, although the increase was not uniform across the territory. The Bajo Penedés in Tarragona, the Valle de Arán in Lleida, and the Alto Ampurdán on the border with France are the three areas where the number of affiliates grew the most in the last year.
Two of these regions, Bajo Penedés and Alto Ampurdán, have their capitals in El Vendrell and Figueres, respectively, both of which have a high presence of foreign populations, explaining much of the growth. The Valle de Arán is the opposite case: it lost 5.8% of its affiliates compared to August, a decline attributed to the weight of tourism in its economy.
Among Catalan cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat leads the growth, with 7.4% more affiliates than a year ago. It is followed by Santa Coloma de Gramenet with 6.7%, and Manresa with 5.4%. In these areas, the growth also coincides with a high concentration of immigrant populations.
The regularisation of immigrants has had a significant impact on last month's affiliation.
By gender, men increased their affiliation by 4.4% year-on-year, while women increased by one point less. By age, the largest increase corresponds to young people, with 8.3%, followed by those over 50 years, with 5.1%. The age group of 45 to 55 years saw the smallest increase, with 1.3%.
The creation of businesses accompanies this movement. In the same month, 1,469 companies were established, with a share capital of 65.73 million euros, an increase of 2.89% compared to a year earlier. Dissolutions rose by 15%, to 102, but 16 of these occurred due to mergers, so the figure presents a less negative image than it seems.
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